Zucchini Salad with Grilled Fish and Romesco Sauce

The dinner recipe for the Zucchini Series was by far the most difficult. There are many recipes with Zucchini in the forefront such as Zoodles and Zucchini Lasagna. However, I wanted something that was light for summer while it’s in season and versatile.

This dish quickly became one of our favorites! It is grilled zucchini and fish over a salad of roasted vegetables and a delicious Romesco sauce to top it all off. Best part is that you can use whatever fish you desire, chicken if you wish, or even make it completely vegetarian; totally up to you!

To begin this dish, we will make the Romesco sauce so it has time to sit and for the flavors to blend. This is a Spanish style sauce using roasted red pepper, tomato, and almonds. In a blender, add the roasted red pepper (your favorite jarred version works great), roma tomato, vinegars, olive oil, almonds, paprika, cayenne and salt. Blend on high until smooth and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prep the vegetables; slice the red onion into 1/2 inch thick slices, slice the fennel into 1/4 in slices, and drain the artichoke hearts. Line them all out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 35- 40 minutes and stir occasionally.

While those are roasting, in a large bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients. Toss in the chopped kale so that it can sit and marinade the kale and soften them as well. Set that aside.

For the main components, we will be using the grill or a grill pan. I seeded the zucchini and sliced into thicker pieces. You can either skewer them or lay them out on a pan but either way, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. For the fish, we used a swordfish which was fresh and hearty for this dish! Whatever fish you use, drizzle both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper and the zest of a lemon.

When there is 15 minutes left for the vegetables to roast, you can begin to grill. Grill the fish 5-6 minutes on each side or according to how thick the fish is that you are using. When you flip the fish, turn the zucchini over as well. Also, cut the lemon you zested in half and lay each half cut side down on the grill.

Once the fish is grilled, remove everything from the grill and pull the vegetables out of the oven. Toss the roasted vegetables in with the kale and lay the salad down on two plates.

Top the salad off with the grilled zucchini and lay the portions of fish on top of the salad. Drizzle the fish with the romesco sauce and squeeze the grilled lemon over the entire dish.

This is definitely something we will be making again in the near future. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

1 Zucchini

1/2 Red Onion

1 Fennel Bulb

1 cup Artichoke Hearts

2 Large Leaves of Kale

2 Filets of your Favorite White Fish

Juice and Zest of 1 Lemon

Salad Dressing:

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar

1 tbs Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp Salt

Romesco Sauce:

2 large pieces of Roasted Red Pepper

1 Roma Tomato

1 tbs Sherry Vinegar

2 Cloves of Garlic

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Roasted Almonds

2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

STEP BY STEP

Remove 2 pieces of roasted red pepper from your favorite jarred option, letting excess oil to drip off. Place the pepper into the blender, along with the rest of the Romesco Sauce ingredients. Blend on high until smooth and set aside for flavors to enhance.

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Slice the red onion and fennel and lay those on a lined baking sheet, along with the artichoke hearts. Toss in olive oil and roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the vegetables are roasting, whisk together the ingredients for the salad dressing. Add in the sliced kale and massage the dressing into the kale to soften. Set aside.

Pick out your favorite and favorite fish filet, we used Swordfish but Cod and Haddock would also be great. On both sides of the fish, drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper, and the entire zest of a lemon.

Slice your zucchini into wedges and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Using a grill pan over high heat or a real grill, place the fish and zucchini down when there is 15 minutes left for the vegetables to roast in the oven.

Grill the fish for 5-6 minutes on each side, flipping once. This may vary depending on your fish species. Flip the zucchini when you flip the fish as well.

With 5 minutes left of grilling, place a lemon which has been cut in half and drizzle olive oil on the cut side down on the grill.

Remove everything from the grill and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes. While it is sitting, stir in the roasted vegetables to the kale salad. Lay a bed of the salad down on a plate, top with the grilled zucchini.

Lay the fish on top of the salad and drizzle it with the romesco sauce.